Independent Oil and Gas (IOG) has announced increased losses for the first half of 2018 just as a final investment decision (FID) on its southern North Sea gas development project has been pushed into the fourth quarter of 2018.
The London-listed firm has seen pre-tax losses increase from £1.4 million for the first half of 2017 to £2.5m for the first half of 2018.
The lionshare of the losses have been attributed to “administration and other” costs.
IOG’s North Sea programme was planned for sanction in September, but the firm said it has made “significant further technical and financial progress” and is in the “final preparatory stages” for FID.
Andrew Hockey, CEO of IOG, said:“We have made excellent progress in the first half of this year as we focus our efforts on realising the potential of our SNS gas hubs. The completion of the acquisition of the Thames Pipeline transforms the viability of this project providing a stable export route for our gas straight to the currently import-dependent UK market.
“We are delighted with the progress we are making on advancing this project towards production and look forward to making further updates in due course.
“We are also pleased to have been successful in the 30th UKCS Licensing Round where our targeted approach resulted in the award of all three licences for which we applied, adding significant resources to our portfolio.”
Following FID in Q4, construction of key project infrastructure is expected to follow during 2019 with installation scheduled for Q1-2 2020 and first gas in late Q2 2020.
IOG also said new tests had shown that its Thames pipeline could safely deliver gas to the Bacton terminal in Norfolk.
The firm completed its purchase of the pipeline in April.
It is expected to play a key role in Independent’s development of several fields in the gas basin.
It intends to export gas from the Blythe and Vulcan Satellite hubs to the Bacton Terminal via the Thames pipeline.
Blythe and Vulcan are expected to produce 180million cubic feet per day once they reach their peak.
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